New Blog Location

So, I'm loving married life!
Blogging has taken a lower priority lately. 
I'll be making future blogs on my new webpage: http://carrieandjamesbutikofer.blogspot.com/

Williams Family Reunion

James and I flew to Utah on June 14.  We missed most of the Williams family reunion that day, but were able to make if for the pictures and pasty dinner.  Pasties are a meat and potato pie, and a family tradition.  I went ahead and looked them up on Wikipeadia, and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan (where my Mother is from) is specifically mentioned in the article.

It was good to see so many of the cousin's on my mother's side.  Not everyone was able to make it, but most were there.  It was conveniently planned to coincide, but not interfere, with our wedding.  Here's a pictures of my cousins from 1989.  And another one with many of us cousins a few years older.


The large group with all the posterity of Jack and Bernice Williams is quite impressive.  More pictures are posted to my Picasa site.
https://picasaweb.google.com/carriejohanson/061412WillimasReunion?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCKvUg6rCyJ_MXw&feat=directlink

Countdown

So , I've had the wedding countdown on my blog for a while.. but I must admit the first week of June I was looking at it quite often.  I think that I was so excited (and yes, maybe a little stressed) that it was a little draining.  Early in the week before we left for Utah I was so tired.  Fortunately I was somewhat caught up on preparations and was able to catch up on some sleep!

We're Getting Close

Memorial Day weekend was full of more wedding preparations.  James has been good at working on the yard.  I had a lot of fun making some modifications on the dresses for the girls, and we got some help in preparing some favors for our wedding reception!  We even got to celebrate a 6-year-old birthday!

USPS Stories

So, we forgot to take pictures once everyone came to help, but a big Thank You to our friends that came to help us prepare our wedding announcements for mailing.

I'm sure we will have a few more stories, but here are a few of my favorites so far. 
- I sent separate announcements to roommates at the same address.  One received her announcement and the other did not.
- One friend confirmed that the address printed on her envelope was correct.  We have no idea why the post office returned it to me as undeliverable.
- James' parents went to a family event on Saturday, May 19.  Many of the Butikofer relatives had received their announcement and commented on how happy they were to receive it.  Unfortunately James' parents hadn't received their announcement yet.  Fortunately they got it on Monday.
- I still have other friends and relatives who 10 days later haven't received their announcements yet.
- I can't blame everything on the Post Office... I have sent out a few bad addresses and wrong last names as well.  Whoops! 

Please feel free to check out our wedding website for any wedding updates!

A true partnership

Now that James is in Alexandria and attending the same ward his records are in, he has a calling again.  He is in the Elders Quorum Presidency and it's been fun to help him learn more names of people in the ward.

As people have been asking about wedding plans, it has really hit me how much I appreciate James and everything he does for me.  He is very good at helping with the wedding planning.  Sometimes it's directly taking care of some wedding preparation.  Sometimes it's creating or reviewing our lists.  Sometimes it's taking care of the lawn or the bathrooms so I can work on other things.  Sometimes it's taking me out for dinner.  Sometimes it's encouraging me to take that bike ride or catch up on my blog so I can get my stress relief.  Always it's being there to tell me he loves me and thinks I'm wonderful.

Wedding Celebrations

My Census coworkers were very generous with a wedding shower, and it was fun to have James come over so I could show him off.  They did a great job with the lighthouse decorations, and even made a map of Prince Edward Island for everyone to sign.  One of my coworkers followed up with me afterwards about how nice he was and how she really liked him.  Another coworker commented how he is even better looking in person than in his pictures.  :-)















Later that same week I had a blast and was able to celebrate with a bridal shower with some friends.  I am blessed to be loved by such remarkable women.  It was great to be able to share so much about James, including how we met, our favorite things to do together, and our future plans together.